The Power of Four
The Raid - 2004
There is something about Adventure Racing that brings out both the best and the worst in you - and I like both aspects. I had a taste of my 'worst' last season in Stanley, as I barely finished our first RAID experience in one piece due to my ignorance regarding my hydration needs over a multi-day race. This year? Sure, we still finished at the back of the pack ( 3rd from last to be specific ) , but it was different. I actually felt good at the end of it this time. And I had exerted more physically than I ever had up to that point, and on the least amount of sleep I had ever voluntarily experienced. Hmm.
Our motley, but determined group of four, previously named Team Simple Pleasures, was lucky to gain a last-minute sponsorship from Tamarack Resort in Idaho. Jean-Pierre Boespflug, the company's CEO had the foresight to see a marketing opportunity in four charismatic adventure racers, trading funding for this race, as well as the national Balance Bar series for advertisement via logo outerwear. Smart move. As we got as many compliments on the design of our jerseys and questions regarding Tamarack's future...as we did as individuals that weekend! So, off we went to the 2004 USA RAID World championship qualifier : 4 bikes, 2 coolers, 6 bins and 2 large bags of gear, and 1 incredibly supportive crew member named Ryan Anderson.
This year's course was advertised as the longest of the season for the series. It was anticipated to showcase
the toughest and most scenic areas surrounding Bend, Oregon. And learning that we were to start our first leg at the base o
f Mount Bachelor, we knew we would be tested again - even more than we were last year in Idaho. Still bearing scars from the
previous year's rollerblading section, we decided, as a team, to skip this discipline and take the time penalty in order to save
some skin. It was a good choice, as the second of the two inline skate sections was in the rain and....up an incredibly long
and steep hill leading to the entrance of the ski area. My stomach gets queasy just thinking about it.
But otherwise, we were ready. Nic and I had been endurance training since January and we had adopted two of the finest
teammates we could ask for: Brad Acker, our support guy extrordinaire from last year, and Mile Stewart, A.K.A "the man who never
stops". More on him later. We were fitter, we were faster, we were far more organized and best of all, we had nailed down the
hydration and food complexities that go along with the nature of this sport. Team check-in gave Nic and I the chance to ogle all
the over-sized calves and hypertrophied quads of the foreign teams that had traveled a long way to bring home some serious cash...
and Brad and Mike the chance to ogle the doe-eyed French girls who worked for the organization. In all, there were 45 teams and
14 countries represented, bringing out teams like Solomon Suisse, ACG/Balance Bar, Team Montrail and even a fiesty, short-statured
team from Japan aptly named Team Samurai Spirit. They were small, they were fast and they were tough. And every time we saw them w
e cheered them on with "gamba!, gamba!, gamba!" - the Japanese version of "Go, man go!!".
The race started at 6am. And the first challenge was to climb up and over Mount Bachelor in crampons, followed by the assault of
another smaller peak and then a final trail run to the first meeting point of our crew. The RAID calls this "Adventure Running".
I call it..the start of a loooong weekend of legwork. So... off we went. Nic, Mike and I focused but content to power-hike
steadily and consistently up the steep icy slopes of Mt Bachelor, instead of burning out by chasing the lead teams who amazingly
had hearts large en
ough to run it. But we were in sync, stopping rarely, head down, side-by-side...Nic sometimes towing me, while Mike gave me a pack-push from behind....counting.....sidestep by sidestep up the steep faces......16 counts, turn, 16 counts, turn.......don't stop, don't look up, I thought to myself. Just keep going. We were focused and we were a team. I felt it very strongly on that first section. And when periodically I had to stop for several seconds because my heart felt it would beat out of my chest, I still looked around in amazement at my surroundings and thought, "God, I can't believe how lucky I am to be doing this!". We finally made it to the top in an hour and 25 minutes and managed to beat several teams to the checkpoints en route. Now, to hasten a descent, one option is to glissade, or slide down on your rear end.....a very efficient and leg-relieving option to heel-plunging and worse, possible knee hyper-extension.
But what started out as a fun, little snow-slide quickly developed into out-of-control speeds as we hit a angle in the mountainside that had us frantically digging in our heels and showering ourselves with waves of snow and ice. We were desperate to avoid the treeline! I saw Nic disappear ahead of me. I saw Mike stopping finally along side me. And we were both COVERed in ice! We looked at each other and chuckled a bit - what a rush! Then looked for Nic. He wasn't laughing so much. He had crashed right into some bushes, catching a tree stump on his butt to slow him down. Ouch! Shaken and with Nic rubbing a deeply bruised 'cheek', we headed towards the last checkpoint. Or... so we thought. The area was dense, heavily laden with trees and although we had maps AND a GPS.....somehow we got turned around and ended up several miles off-course. In fact, we were off the maps! Nic felt absolutely sick, as he had been appointed as our navigator. But Mike and I had not stepped up forcibly enough to express our doubts and ask for clarification of the route. So in my mind, it was a combined error. But our team cohesiveness surfaced again, as we quickly assessed our estimated position, made a plan to get the three of us back on track, and made 'fleet feet' to try and make up for the time we were losing. It was a big mistake. But a good lesson. And I bet we never make that same one again.
When we finally made it back to Ryan and Brad, (who were more worried about our safety than the missed cutoff for the next section), we were motivated to keep the pace. The next two sections ( due to intentionally skipping the rollerblading in between ) would be flat-water paddling across two reservoirs, one with a tree-stump obstacle course, and one with a 1.5 mile land portage en route. Brad and I were to be the consistent paddlers, alternating Mike and Nic so they could recover for a mountain bike ride that would follow. I have to admit, this section proved to be the most tedious. Paddling an inflatable canoe on flat water takes a LONG time. Especialy on hard seats and in cramped quarters. But we got it done, taking about 5.5 hours in total to do the two sections, and using idle chit-chat to pass the time. This section reiterated the fact....that I am happiest when I am racing with my friends.
Next, I finally got a rest. But for only an hour and 20 minutes! The 3 guys CRANKED out the mountainbike section so fast that I barely got dry clothes on and some hot food in my stomach before they returned! But they were stoked, proving that when it comes to mountainbiking, the men on our team have the leg-power to do it! So.....next came another "Adventure Run" - but this time in the dark. Now, think about that term. You just know the race course designers are going to try and send you straight to HELL and back! But you gotta keep that smile on your face. Because its an 'adventure', you know! Ha! And it truly was. Mike, Brad and I set off, headlamps on and trekking poles in hand. But this time? The GPS, as well as the maps, was definately to be our guide. Our goal was to try and make it back by 3am to get a few hours sleep before the 5:30AM start of the second day. I don't remember every detail of that night trek. In the dark, the trees and roads and peripheral images all seem to blend together and look the same. I know we made no navigational errors. I know Brad taught us a cool nighttime navigational technique using our headlamps as a guide. Very cool stuff, Mr. Acker! I know my energy was surprisingly high, despite my exertion up to that point.
I remember funny things like cursing the pinecones on the road that acted like marbles on a floor, causing us to lose our balance every 4-5 steps....and Brad singing some silly "Wolf Creek Pass" song. Repeatedly. I almost smacked him. I remember running a lot and chatting about anything that came to mind, including the occasional "Blair Witch" scene that surrounded us, the crazy lava rocks that appeared out of nowhere. We talked about families...food cravings ( Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich! ) and how glad Mike and I were to not be running in our hiking boots this time! And I remember glibly referring to the GPS as "God" due its omni-voyant power and ability to tell us exactly where we were at any given moment. But we made every checkpoint, despite having to bushwhack through prickly shrubs that were so thick that when I fell....I never even hit the ground. And we made it back to camp. But... it wasn't 3am. It was almost FIVE am!! How did that happen!? We ran to plug in, and then back to the truck to arouse Nic, who was snoozing in his sleeping bag. "We're back! And they want to do the bike section! Hurry! ". Nic jumped up instantly and into motion.
I did what I could to help them prepare but my mind was a fog. I was working on hour 22 of racing with an hour or so of rest and no sleep. My brain's ability to process simple tasks was quickly screaming to a halt. But loaded with caffeinated gels and amped from the frenzy of getting the guys off on the next section, it was an additional 45 minutes before I successfully fell asleep in the back of the truck. But man, I slept hard. I never even felt the truck being loaded or move to the next meeting place. I never sensed Ryan place a mug of coffee next to me (what a guy! ) for when I awoke. But I DID hear the sharp rap on the window in what seemed like only 10 minutes time....announcing,"they're back!". Are you kidding me!? Didn't I just lay down!? My mind sleepily tried to process the scene. It was actually about 8am and I had been sleeping about 90 minutes. The men had made excellent time again but this time, good ole Brad was feeling the strain of being awake for 24 hours, and racing for 16 or more hours of it. Too tired to even change out of his wet clothes or even eat, he wrapped himself in a sleeping bag in the back seat and sang himself to sleep as we prepared for the last trekking and ropes section.
The weather had turned by now. Driving to the start of the final trek, we watched teams with sleet and wind on their backs, struggle to fight their way back up the long, steep road leading to the Mount Bachelor parking lot - on rollerblades. Man, did we ever make a good choice in skipping that! It was to be Mike, I and Nic again for this final 'grunt'. And we were all fighting the 'sleep-monster'. This section required carrying snowshoes, as well as our climbing gear. So our packs were the heaviest they had been all weekend and the footing.. was the sloppiest. We started out again...Nic, semi-refreshed from a few strategic hours of sleep, and Mike charging ahead as usual. I have to take a moment and refer back to my 'never-stop' Stewart comment from earlier. This man is a workhorse. He doesn't say a heck of a lot, but he has legs that just won't quit. The day before, he had charged up Mount Bachelor, coming to the back only to assist me with a push from behind when it got really steep. And here he was again, 24 hours later , up in front and bustin' butt. Mike Stewart - silent but deadly. G
And then there was Jen. Yup....the legs were going strong.....okay, so they were at least 'going'.....but the brain was definately shutting down. Nic had to chuckle a few times, answering the same repeated questions only 2-3 minute apart, because I was too tired to retain the answer. My legs were rapidly losing coordination. The snow was softening and foot stability was non-existent. My normal quick reaction-time to minor losses of balance, was now turning my body into gross, flailing contortions, which most often had me flat on my ass. Over and over again I fell, stumbling on nothing...slipping on everything....clumsiness I label as "Scooby -Do" moves. But the guys were still with me. Nic, patient as Job, keeping me moving with words of encouragement. Mike gave me a visual goal - always slightly ahead, stopping long enough for me to catch up but moving on again to keep me paced, always knowing where I was and how I was doing. But frustration was growing inside me. I was incredibly fatigued but I wanted so much to make that final bike section! My muscles were working but my coordination was shot. My brain seemed fried, but somehow we got off the snow and onto a beautiful river trail surrounded on both sides by gigantic waterfalls. And surprisingly, I found I could jog a little again. At the end of the path was Tumalo Falls, an absolute monster of fluid power. And this was where the ropes section was set up! We were to zip-line across the headwaters of the falls, climb up to the other side, then rappel down in front of the falls on a rope suspended over the rivers edge. Wow! My adrenaline picked up! But so did my anxiety. The same brain that couldn't remember Nic's directions from one minute to the next, was scrambling to try and remember how to set up my rappel gear with a device I was not familiar with! (The Raid requires the use of a shunt to rappel instead of an ATC or figure 8 device) The last thing I wanted was to be dangling 200 feet above a river, blankly looking at the rope that I was tied to! The RAID provides a ropes course guide to assist you. In reality, I didn't have to do anything to set up my gear. But despite Nic and Mikes repeated reassurances, this usually 'fun' aspect of the race suddenly became a source of momentary.....stress. But I took a deep breath and I did it anyways. And it was actually fantastic! Whizzing down a rope with the thunder of water echoing in your ears......man, life is good.
We knew we were done at that point. We got backed up a little at the ropes section waiting for teams that had passed us to finish. So, by the time we were done, we knew our chance of making the final bike section cutoff was gone. We had lost time again on that last trek with technical mistakes that only get minimized with experience, and my sleep-starved body…..well, despite my efforts, it just didn't go as fast as we needed it to go. I was really disappointed, as were the others. But we finished what we started, shook it off and ended the day at a local pub sharing beers and plans for improvement.
I look back at the results with mixed emotions. On paper, our progress seemed small. The numbers reflected a relative position in a field of 'giants'. But I still felt the best and most accomplished at the end, than after any race I had done thus far. We still have plenty to learn. But I think we are going to do really well this year. I can just feel it! This race was tough. But as a team, were strong, we didn't 'bonk', and we showed incredible endurance. And most importantly, we had synergy, eliciting energy and producing results that truly were greater in combination….than the sum of the individuals involved.
Cheers,
Jen